In my last Linkedin article, I wrote about the importance Splendor puts on thought out, quality content with maximum impact over a high quantity of sub-par material when measuring the value of our services to a potential client. We continually find that when businesses resort to a “quick and cheap” fix, the results are rarely strong. It’s not to say that the correct answer to conducting a successful marketing plan is shelling out as much money as possible. And while I usually shy away from giving clients direct quotes on pricing (there are so many variables that impact a proposal), I’ve constantly tried to find a way to ballpark.

I recently stumbled upon a digital marketing calculator from a group called WebStrategies Inc. (download here). The developer, Chris Leone, has graciously allowed me to write this post about the tool. Chris developed the pricing calculator through the data of multiple resources; the latest research and surveys from CMO.com, Forrester Research, and eConsultancy. By combining these resources, Chris and his team have formed an accurate representation of a monthly marketing spend.

We tested it with one of our clients that’s on a monthly retainer with Splendor and the suggested spend was spot on. This accuracy prompted me to share the article.

I’ve provided a few scenarios that outline different price point suggestions for various sized companies. I’ve set up the tool as detailed below in order to give the most realistic scenarios to Splendor’s clients needs:

• Business Revenue (in millions)
• B2B Product (because most of our clients are business to business and not business to consumer)
• For Percentage of Annual Revenue Generated Online, the options are 0%, less than 15% or greater than 15%. We decided middle of the road, less than 15% would be the most realistic to encompass the low range in generated revenue.

for businesses with ~ $1 million in annual revenue:

If you’re a small business with an annual revenue of ~$1,000,000 that wants to grow– the calculator suggests spending ~$5,000-$10,000 monthly on your total marketing budget.

for businesses with ~ $15 million in annual revenue:

for businesses with ~ $30 million in annual revenue:

for businesses with ~ $100 million in annual revenue:

Congratulations!! You’ve broken an annual revenue of $100 million dollars. But it’s no time to sleep. Companies like Apple and Nike (while earning just slightly more than $100 million/year) are at the top of their game yet they continue to invest heavily in marketing. If you invest $12,000,000 a year (!!), or 12% of your annual revenue, you’ve guaranteed your company a ROI.

If your company has decided to set up a marketing budget for FY18, this tool is a must have. There’s a reason big, successful companies invest in marketing; because it works. Any company at any size can benefit from a successful, strategic marketing plan. And Splendor can help implement it.